1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to wheel chocks. More particularly, the invention pertains particularly to a wheel chock that is adapted and configured to fully secure a two-wheeled vehicle to an object or surface, such as a trailer, in an upright position.
2. Related Art
Various wheel chocks have been employed that are capable of fully securing a two-wheeled vehicle to an object or surface, such as a trailer, in an upright position. A well known wheel chock used for such purposes is the Bike Shoe™ sold by Pit Posse Motorsports of Saint Petersburg, Fla. The Bike Shoe is similar to, if not the same as, the chock described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,597. The Bike Shoe™ is configured to be secured to a trailer or other surface and is configured to receive the front wheel of a motorcycle or other wheeled-vehicle. The Bike Shoe™ is utilized by rolling the wheel forward into a receiving pocket while the wheel remains supported on the surface to which the Bike Shoe™ is secured. Once the tire is positioned in receiving pocket, a person can manually pivot a locking brace over the top-rear portion of the wheel. A locking member is then manually pivoted in a manner that causes the locking brace to bias the top-rear portion of the wheel downward and toward the receiving pocket. As the locking member is pivoted, the pivot point of the brace moves to a position where the biasing force of the locking brace against the wheel acts to prevent the pivot point of the locking brace from returning to its original position. In this locked position, the Bike Shoe™ fully secures the wheel to the wheel chock and to the surface. This locking mechanism of the Bike Shoe™ wheel chock constitutes a type of “over-center” locking mechanism.
A disadvantage of using the Bike Shoe™ wheel chock is that a two-wheeled vehicle must be held upright while a person moves the locking brace against the top-rear portion of the tire. This can be awkward, especially when the vehicle is a relatively heavy motorcycle and the person holding the motorcycle upright is the same person operating the locking mechanism of the wheel chock. Moreover, the person often must reposition the locking brace on the wheel several times until a sufficient compressive force can be exerted on the wheel by the locking brace and the person is still able to apply enough force on the activating member to move it to over-center position (thereby securing the locking brace in place). Additionally, when the surface is not completely horizontal, such is often the case when the surface is a trailer bed, a person may also have to exert a force on the vehicle to maintain the wheel in engagement with the receiving pocket while he or she operates the locking mechanism of the wheel chock and hold the vehicle upright. This disadvantage is exacerbated by the fact that the locking mechanism of the Bike Shoe™ wheel chock is hand operated and difficult to operate while holding a vehicle.
Some wheel chocks are configured to support a two-wheeled vehicle in an upright position simply by engaging a wheel of the vehicle with the wheel chock. Still further, some of such wheel chocks are also configured such that gravity prevents the wheel from rolling off or out of the wheel chock once the wheel is properly engaged with the wheel chock. However, without an additional locking mechanism, such types of wheel chocks are not practical for trailering vehicles since vibrations and bumps can overcome the gravitational force holding the wheel to the wheel chock.